Arterial Rehabilitation Program

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This program is the rehabilitation of arterial roadways throughout the City of Lethbridge transportation network. Locations are targeted using the Municipal Pavement Management Application (MPMA). This system relies on a data base of condition assessments to determine roadway sections that require further evaluation by a technical professional. Currently the analysis done by MPMA indicates that the arterial road system is in relatively good condition and that regular investments as indicated in this project should protect that investment. This "hands on" approach results in achieving the best value for our arterial rehabilitation budget. The work typically involves milling a portion of the existing asphalt and replacing it with new or recycled asphalt. This typically extends the life of the pavement another 15 years.

Council's direction is to protect the investment the City has made in our assets. In order to protect a very large capital investment and provide safe roadway conditions to City residents, it is necessary to maintain the backbone of our transportation network; the arterial roadway system. Investing in the correct maintenance activity at the right time prevents further deterioration of the infrastructure - reducing the total life cycle costs (cost of building and maintaining) over the life of the asset.

The City of Lethbridge's maintenance program includes crack sealing, applying "skin coats", and pothole patching. This project funds a major rehabilitation of the pavement surface. Each $1.00 invested at the optimal time in the pavement structures life cycle, results in future savings of $3.00 to $4.00. Operating expenses are 15% lower for vehicles driven on roads in good condition over those of vehicles operated on poorly maintained roadways. There are presently 280 lane kilometers of arterial roads with an asset replacement value of $400 million. Industry best practices indicate that on average, these roadways should be overlaid every 15 years and our proposed investment strategy with this project will allow this. City Council has approved our pavement condition strategy in the 2004 Transportation Master Plan. Our goal is to maintain a Pavement Quality Index (PQI) of 6.5 and our current condition is at 7.1.